City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

“And do not be confirmed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:2

“The only help I will give you is help to become perfect.  You may want something less, but I will give you nothing less.”

C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity Book 4, Ch 9

Exegesis

I am not really that good at instruction manuals.  I really do not have much patience for them.  When I get a kit to put some piece of furniture together, I would rather look at the pieces and just figure it out.  Figuring it out from the instruction manual just makes my frustration boil. But with experience it has taught me, only to some extent, that if I embrace patience, follow instructions, and allow myself to slow down, the task will be completed much more quickly. And my domestic situation will be much improved.

My son, however, is a manual reader.  On family drives he likes to read the owner’s manual for the car.  So, he knows all the capabilities the car has to offer. His mind is made new by the user’s manual.  In fact, his passion for Tesla has driven him to become such an expert that, while on vacation, he instructed a family friend on the use of her Tesla displays, and he had never been in a Tesla before! Oh, it is a blessing… and a challenge. It is by no means a curse. 

When putting together furniture, one can usually get away with just winging it. If the chair does not turn out quite right, you can try again or use the wobbly chair out of pure stubbornness. That is not how it is with instructions.  Skipping steps or performing them out of order may get the job done quicker, but it will violate the wisdom of the instructions and will usually give you a different result. The instructions are intended to help you re-create a particular product.  If you intended to produce a different product, you need different instructions.   

Application

Look for an opportunity to take on a task with step-by-step instructions.  As you perform the task, slow yourself down, clear your mind, and perform the task as instructed.  Set your goal as obedience to the instructions.  When things don’t look quite right, apply faith.

If you pay attention, you may some small amount of transformation in your life.  The burden of the task may lift a bit, but there should also be a changing of perspective. Right behavior in small areas will help you create right behaviors in other, more challenging areas. But true transformation only comes by the grace of God.

Prayer

Dear Lord, today I pray that you show me something in my life that needs to be redone.  I also pray for the grace to release it to you and to trust you for the results. Amen